George Duke
George Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a professor of music. He first made a name for himself with the album The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio. He was known primarily for thirty-odd solo albums as well as for his collaborations with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa. Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Legacy & influence 2 Discography 2.1 As leader 2.2 Compilations 2.3 As sideman 3 References 4 External links Biography Early life Duke attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley before earning a bachelor's degree in trombone and composition with a minor in contrabass, from the San Francisco Conservatory in 1967.2 Playing initially with friends from garages to local clubs, Duke quickly eased his way into session work, which refined his abilities and expanded his approach to music. He later earned his Master's degree in composition from San Francisco State University. He also taught a course on Jazz And American Culture at Merritt College in Oakland.2 Career Beginning in 1967 Duke experimented further with jazz fusion, playing and recording with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, as well as performing with the Don Ellis Orchestra, and Cannonball Adderley's band, while he acquainted himself with Frank Zappa.1 Duke appeared on a number of Frank Zappa's albums through the 1970s. Frank Zappa played guitar solos on Duke's 1974 album, Feel - the instrumental "Old Slipper", and "Love" - credited as Obdewl'l X,3 possibly due to contractual reasons. Duke covered two Zappa-composed songs on his 1975 album, The Aura Will Prevail,3 - "Uncle Remus" (co-written with Duke) and "Echidna's Arf" - that he had played on while a member of The Mothers on Zappa's albums. A further Zappa connection occurred on Duke's other album from 1975, I Love the Blues She Heard Me Cry - which utilized Ruth Underwood, Tom Fowler, and Bruce Fowler from Zappa's Overnite Sensation band that Duke was a part of, along with Zappa-associate Johnny "Guitar" Watson3 and jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour.4 Duke served as a record producer and composer on two instrumental tracks on Miles Davis albums: "Backyard Ritual" (from Tutu, 1986) and "Cobra" (from Amandla, 1989). He has also worked with a number of Brazilian musicians, including singer Milton Nascimento, percussionist Airto Moreira and singer Flora Purim. Lynn Davis and Sheila E appeared on Duke's late-1970s solo albums Don't Let Go and Master of the Game. Duke was prominent in the R&B genre, releasing funk-based songs like "Reach for It" and "Dukey Stick". In 1979 he traveled to Rio de Janeiro, where he recorded the album A Brazilian Love Affair, on which he employed singers Flora Purim and Milton Nascimento and percussionist Airto Moreira. The album contained music in a wide assortment of genres, including some Latin jazz and jazz-influenced material. From a jazz standpoint, the album's most noteworthy songs include Nascimento's "Cravo e Canela", "Love Reborn", and "Up from the Sea It Arose and Ate Rio in One Swift Bite". The track "Brazilian Sugar" was featured on the 2006 video game Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. Meanwhile, Nascimento's vocal on the ballad "Ao Que Vai Nascer" is an example of Brazilian pop at its most sensuous. The 1992 film Leap of Faith featured gospel songs and choir produced by George Duke and choir master Edwin Hawkins. Duke worked as musical director at numerous large-scale musical events, including the Nelson Mandela tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, London in 1988. In 1989, he temporarily replaced Marcus Miller as musical director of NBC's late-night music performance program Sunday Night during its first season.5 Duke was also a judge for the second annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.6 Duke worked with Jill Scott on her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3; guesting on the track, "Whenever You're Around". In the summer of 2011, he put together a trio with David Sanborn and Marcus Miller for a tour across the US of more than 20 sold out shows. Legacy & influence Duke died August 5, 2013 in Los Angeles from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He was 67 and was survived by his sons, Rashid and John. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)7 Duke's songs have been used by a wide variety of contemporary musicians in a wide array of genres. These include: "I Love You More", sampled by house music-act Daft Punk for their hit "Digital Love"; "Guilty", sampled by electronica music artist Mylo in his song "Guilty of Love" on Destroy Rock & Roll. "For Love", sampled by underground hip hop artist MF Doom on his track "I Hear Voices"; "Someday", sampled by hip hop artist/producer Kanye West for Common in "Break My Heart" on his "Finding Forever" album; "You and Me", sampled and used by soul/rhythm and blues influenced hip hop-producer 9th Wonder for his collaboration album with Kaze for the track "Spirit Of '94" on the album Spirit Of '94: Version 9.0; and "Reach for It", sampled by Ice Cube in "True to the Game" on his Death Certificate album and Spice 1 in "In My Neighborhood" on his self-titled debut album, and sampled by W.C. & The Maad Circle (featuring Mack 10 & Ice Cube) in "West Up" on their "Curb Servin'" album. Madlib utilized Duke's "My Soul" on the track "Mingus" from his "Madlib Medicine Show #8: Advanced Jazz" album. Duke was nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary Jazz Performance for After Hours in 1999.8 By popular vote, Duke was inducted into The SoulMusic Hall Of Fame at SoulMusic.com in December 2012.9 Discography Clarke and Duke in concert As leader Title Year Label George Duke Quartet Presented by the Jazz Workshop 1 1966 MPS,SABA The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio 1969 Pacific Jazz Save the Country 2 1970 Pickwick Solus 3 1971 MPS,SABA The Inner Source (2-LP) 1973 MPS/BASF Faces in Reflection 1974 MPS/BASF Feel 1974 MPS/BASF The Aura Will Prevail 1974 MPS/BASF I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry 1975 MPS/BASF Liberated Fantasies 1976 MPS/BASF The Billy Cobham – George Duke Band 'Live' on Tour in Europe 1976 Atlantic The Dream 4 1976 MPS/BASF From Me to You 1977 Epic/CBS Reach for It 1977 Epic/CBS Don't Let Go 1978 Epic/CBS Follow the Rainbow 1979 Epic/CBS Master of the Game 1979 Epic/CBS A Brazilian Love Affair 1980 Epic/CBS Clarke/Duke Project 1981 Epic/CBS Dream On 1982 Epic/CBS Clarke/Duke Project 2 1983 Epic/CBS Guardian of the Light 1983 Epic/CBS Rendezvous 1984 Epic/CBS Thief in the Night 1985 Elektra George Duke 1986 Elektra Night After Night 1989 Elektra Clarke/Duke Project 3 1990 Epic/CBS Snapshot 1992 Warner Bros. Muir Woods Suite 5 1993 Warner Bros. Illusions 1995 Warner Bros. Is Love Enough 1997 Warner Bros. After Hours 1998 Warner Bros. Cool 2000 Warner Bros. Face the Music 2002 Bizarre Planet Duke 2005 Bizarre Planet In a Mellow Tone 2006 Bizarre Planet Dukey Treats 2008 Heads Up Déjà Vu 2010 Telarc Jazz Dreamweaver 2013 Heads Up 1 Rereleased as "The Primal" by MPS in 1978. 2 Rereleased as "Pacific Jazz" by United Artists in 1978 albeit with a different tracklisting. 3 Solus was recorded in April 1971 and intended to be released as a single album by SABA but when SABA folded and became MPS the powers that be decided to postpone its release. They finally put it out as a double album in 1976 together with George's MPS debut "The Inner Source". The latter was recorded in October 1971. 4 Recorded in 1976 and released in 1978 (Europe-only). Released in the USA (in a slightly different version) as "The 1976 Solo Keyboard Album" by Epic/CBS in 1982. 5 Recorded in 1993 at the Montreaux jazz festival but the release got postponed until 1996. Compilations Title Year Label EAN The Essential George Duke (2CD) 2004 Sony 4606817001313 My Soul - The Complete MPS Fusion Recordings (4CD) 2008 Universal 0602517515048 As sideman With Al Jarreau Breakin' Away (Warner Bros. Records 1981) With Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention Chunga's Revenge (Bizarre/Reprise, 1970) 200 Motels (United Artists, 1971) Waka/Jawaka (Bizarre/Reprise, 1972) The Grand Wazoo (Bizarre/Reprise, 1972) Over-Nite Sensation (DiscReet, 1973) Apostrophe (') (DiscReet, 1974) Roxy & Elsewhere (DiscReet, 1974) One Size Fits All (DiscReet, 1975) Bongo Fury (DiscReet, 1975) Studio Tan (DiscReet, 1978) Sleep Dirt (DiscReet, 1979) Them or Us (Barking Pumpkin, 1984) You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 (Rykodisc, 1988) Läther (Rykodisc, 1996) The Dub Room Special (Zappa, 2007) Road Tapes, Venue 2 (Zappa, 2013) A Token Of His Extreme (Zappa, 2013) Roxy by Proxy (Zappa, 2014) With Third World Lagos Jump (CBS 1983) Try Jah Love (CBS 1982) With The Keynotes Get On That Gospel Train (MPS, 1973) With Gene Ammons Brasswind (Prestige, 1974) With Billy Cobham Crosswinds (Atlantic, 1974) B.C. (Columbia, 1979) Picture This (GRP, 1987) With Eddie Henderson Sunburst (Blue Note, 1975) With Alphonse Mouzon The Man Incognito (Blue Note, 1975) With Airto Moreira Virgin Land (Salvation, 1974) With Flora Purim Stories To Tell (Milestone Records, 1974) Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly (Milestone Records, 1976) That's What She Said (Milestone Records, 1978) Carry On (Warner Bros, 1979) With Michael Jackson Off the Wall (Epic, 1979) With Jean-Luc Ponty King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (World Pacific/Liberty, 1970) Individual Choice (Atlantic, 1983) With Deniece Williams Let's Hear It For the Boy (Columbia, 1984) Love, Niecy Style (Shanachie, 2007) With Miles Davis Tutu (Warner Bros, 1986) Amandla (Warner Bros, 1989) With Dianne Reeves Dianne Reeves (Blue Note, 1987) Never Too Far (EMI, 1989) Quiet After the Storm (Blue Note, 1995) Bridges (Blue Note, 1999) In the Moment – Live in Concert (Blue Note, 2000) Beautiful Life (Concord, 2014) With John Scofield Loud Jazz (Gramophone, 1988) With Chanté Moore Precious (Silas/MCA, 1992) A Love Supreme (Silas/MCA, 1994) Love the Woman (Peak, 2008) With Joe Sample Sample This (Warner Bros, 1997) With Phil Collins A Hot Night in Paris (Atlantic, 1999) With Regina Belle Lazy Afternoon (2004) With Teena Marie Congo Square (2009) With Joe Williams Joe Williams Live (1973) With Larisa Dolina Hollywood Mood (2008)10 Route 55 (2010)11 References 1.^ Jump up to: a b c Artist Biography by Thom Jurek (1946-01-12). "George Duke | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-08-06. 2.^ Jump up to: a b "George Duke biography". George Duke online. Retrieved December 11, 2010. 3.^ Jump up to: a b c Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play, St Martin's Press, New York, 1993, p. 294. 4.Jump up ^ I Love the Blues She Heard Me Cry, MPS Records-BAP 5071/BASF 5071/MPS Records MC 25671, 1975, sleeve notes 5.Jump up ^ "Sunday Night" episodes No.104 (1988), No.113 (1989), No.114 (1989), No.121 (1989) 6.Jump up ^ "Independent Music Awards". Independent Music Awards. Retrieved 2013-08-06. 7.Jump up ^ "Jazz keyboardist George Duke dies at 67 - MSN Music News". Music.msn.com. Retrieved 2013-08-06. 8.Jump up ^ "George Duke". answers.com. Retrieved 6 August 2013. 9.Jump up ^ "SoulMusic.com". SoulMusic.com. Retrieved 2013-02-04. 10.Jump up ^ Album Hollywood Mood on Discogs 11.Jump up ^ Album Route 55 on Discogs External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Duke. Official website George Duke at the Internet Movie Database George Duke at NPR Music George Duke interview at allaboutjazz.com "New album, more treats". George Duke interview at allaboutjazz.com "Deja Vu". George Duke 2012 Interview Part 1 at Soulinterviews.com. George Duke 2012 Interview Part 2 at Soulinterviews.com. SoulMusic Hall Of Fame at SoulMusic.com findagrave.com Category:1946 births Category:2013 deaths Category:American boogie musicians Category:American dance musicians Category:American jazz pianists Category:American television composers Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Deaths from leukemia Category:Elektra Records artists Category:Epic Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Heads Up International artists Category:The Mothers of Invention members Category:MPS Records artists Category:Musicians from San Rafael, California Category:San Francisco Conservatory of Music alumni Category:Smooth jazz pianists Category:Tamalpais High School alumni Category:Warner Bros. Records artists